Finnish Authorities Monitor Swine Flu Outbreak

Mexican officials say that up to 81 people may have died from the viral infection, and that about 1,000 more have been infected. Around a dozen have been infected in the United States, along with two in France and one in Israel.

Following the situation here in Finland, Professor Petri Ruutu of the National Institute for Health and Welfare told YLE that with faster and more common overseas travel, all it takes is for one traveller to become infected.

Experts say that the swine flu appears to contain a mixture of human and animal genetic material.

"An infected person would typically experience a very high fever, with a great degree of nausea and muscle pain, perhaps a sore throat, and in the worst cases, pneumonia, which may be caused by the virus or other compromising bacteria," explained Professor Ruutu.

Foreign Ministry Updates Warning

Meanwhile the Finnish Foreign Ministry has renewed its advisory issued earlier in the week to residents and nationals travelling to Mexico.

The travel advisory calls on travellers to avoid large crowds and close contact. Currently about 340 Finns live in Mexico, and so far none have been reported infected.

The Mexican cases are being treated as extremely serious, having occurred in different areas, and also because the victims so far have been young adults, and not children or the elderly, who are at greatest risk of succumbing to flu outbreaks.

The World Health Organisation has said it has not been provided with enough information on the epidemic, and does not yet know how far it has spread. WHO officials met on Saturday to consider the gravity of the epidemic and possible procedures to prevent a pandemic.

In New Zealand, 10 pupils from a school group that returned from Mexico were being treated for influenza symptoms.